The subject invention relates to an underlayment for supplementing one or more physical properties of: wall, ceiling, and floor construction components, especially conventional wall, ceiling, and floor construction components; to the wall, ceiling, and floor assemblies that include the underlayment; and to the method of fabricating and installing such assemblies on site.
Currently, the walls, ceilings, and floors of residential and commercial buildings are typically fabricated utilizing conventional wall, ceiling, and floor components. These conventional wall, ceiling, and floor construction components include: wall, ceiling, and floor construction boards such as but not limited to 4×8 foot gypsum boards, cement boards, and wood fiber boards (e.g. OSB boards (oriented strand boards), particle boards, and plywood); concrete block or cinderblock walls; decorative wall and ceiling construction components, such as but not limited to laminates with decorative surface layers (e.g. hardwood or simulated hardwood surface layers, fabric layers, etc.); and decorative floor construction components, such as but not limited to carpeting, cushioned carpeting, rugs, cushioned rugs, vinyl flooring, cushioned vinyl flooring, tiles, flexible or vinyl tiles, and flooring laminates with decorative surface layers (e.g. hardwood or simulated hardwood surface layers, tile or simulated tile surface layers, etc), which may be permanent floor construction components or unattached or readily removable floor components that overlie conventional permanent floor components. While walls, ceilings, and floors constructed with these conventional wall, ceiling, and floor construction components meet the basic requirements for residential and commercial walls, ceilings, and floors, certain applications arise where it is necessary or desirable to provide walls, ceilings, and/or floors with physical properties not provided by these conventional wall, ceiling and floor construction components or not provided by these conventional wall, ceiling, and floor construction components to the extent required or desired for the applications. Physical properties necessary or desirable for certain applications and not provided or only partially provided by these conventional wall, ceiling, and floor construction components may include, but are not limited to physical properties such as the latent storage of thermal energy, enhanced sound transmission reduction, water vapor transmission reduction, and/or enhanced burn through resistance. For example, it might be necessary or desirable to have the external walls of a living portion of a home or working areas of a commercial building or walls between the living portion of a home or working areas of a commercial building and an attached garage: that latently store thermal energy to maintain the living portion of the home or working areas of the commercial building at a more constant temperature and conserve energy; that, when compared to walls made of conventional wallboards, have greater sound transmission reduction; and/or that, when compared to walls made with conventional wallboards, have increased burn through resistance. It might also be necessary or desirable to have ceilings and/or floors of a home or commercial building that latently store thermal energy to maintain different living portions of the home or working areas of the commercial building at more constant temperatures and conserve energy; that, when compared to ceilings and/or floors made of conventional ceiling and floor components, have greater sound transmission reduction; and/or that, when compared to ceilings and/or floors made with conventional ceiling and floor components, have increased the burn through resistance.
In addition to being able to supplement the physical properties (enhance the existing physical properties and/or add new physical properties) of conventional wall, ceiling, and/or floor construction components used in new building construction and enhance the performance of these construction components and the walls, ceilings, and/or floors made with these construction components, it would also be advantageous to be able to enhance the performance of walls, ceilings, and/or floors in existing building structures without having to remove the existing wall, ceiling, and/or floor construction components forming the walls, ceilings, and floors of these existing structures.